Animal Battle: Making a Sculpture

Some time ago, I decided I wanted to start making my Animal Battle characters 3-dimensional. I love drawing them so much that I want them to really come to life.

Quite suddenly a few weeks ago, my brain decided it was time. It was like a switch flipped and I needed to start making that dream happen NOW. I was really curious about making maquette sculptures, so for about a week and a half I scoured the entire internet for everything I could find about sculpting with clay. I watched dozens of video tutorials, pored over countless blogs and websites, read through a couple books. I looked like this:

But, you know, like happy, I just wasn’t blinking.

Then I made supply lists, thought a LOT about the process, made several important clicks on Amazon, and a few trips to my local art and hardware stores. Some things I bought:

a pasta maker (for softening and squishing clay into flat sheets)

a Dremel tool

Super Sculpey firm clay

Apoxie Sculpt

an assortment of sculpting tools

a spinning base

spray-on plastic primerI highly recommend Acrylic Gesso instead

a plain wooden base

armature wire (various sizes)

So, as prepared as I could ever be, or so I thought, it was time to embark on a new adventure.

**DISCLAIMER: I’ve never sculpted with this clay before, or sculpted much at all for that matter, so a lot of this process is a little (a lot) of trial and error, based on all the things I read and watched other people do. Please be kind to the n00b, and also – advice is welcome!**

First, I traced the basic skeleton of one of my favorite soldiers, Battle Raccoon. In this print he’s about 10″ tall. I cut my armature wire and assembled the skeleton.

Next, I drilled some holes into my base (Yeah! Power tools!) and inserted my armature.

Okay, I know what some Armaturists out there might think: what the hell? Even now I’m thinking that to myself. This ain’t the prettiest armature you’ll ever see. The two “legs” that extend up the sides of body are actually sturdy brass rods, with everything else kind of goofily attached to them. But, my main concern was making sure our man’s tiny little legs would support his much-bigger body (and head). And, I was too impatient/didn’t have epoxy putty to meld the joints together, so I used clay, which was awkward.

But it worked. So moving on.

Time to bulk up with some aluminum foil. You can see how I’ve bent the rods a bit at the “knees” (hopefully without compromising them too much). I also had to gently tack in a couple snips of armature wire at the “feet” because the holes I drilled were too large. I’ve got smaller bits, but I need to buy the adaptor for my Dremel tool that’ll let me use them. Sigh.

It’s working. So, moving on.

Next, I spent maybe the next hour slicing off chunks of Super Sculpey, running them through my pasta maker, and slowly blocking out our main man here. You may have noticed how much foil I didn’t use. I might be realizing this later. First time, guys, first time.

So there’s my loveable lump. At this point I retired for the evening.

The next day I continued blocking out shapes until, slowly, a raccoon began to form. A battle raccoon.

And suddenly, a head! I became so engrossed in sculpting I forgot to take pictures. I found my sculpting tools easy to use and fun to work with, and the stylus with the tiny round ball at the end quickly became my favorite.

He’s coming alive! Excitement.

Annnnnnd here’s my moment of realization. Just as I was about to start working on his mossy capelet, I thought to test the thickness of the clay. The blade of my X-acto pushed right into his shoulder and hit nothing. Way waaaaay too thick.

So, I stripped all that clay off and bulked him up with more foil. I knew there was probably too much clay on the head now, and maybe on his torso too, but there was no turning back.

We continue.

That’s better. All bulked up.

I carved out and texturized the moss cape. I looked around my studio for something that I could use for just the right texture, and found a nice old sturdy, crappy brush. Perfect.

I made his little mask-hat just to see what it would look like, but I didn’t leave it on there. I knew I’d be making that part with self-hardening clay later.

This little stylus tool is really versatile. I used it to make a sort of inverted “chain mail”.

And there’s his sleeve, with another flat piece of clay ready to be turned into chain mail on his other arm.

Next, I rolled out a suuuuuuuper thin slice of clay to make the hem of his tunic. Like prosciutto. (Mmmm….prosciutto.) Then I used my X-acto knife to carve out the pattern before attaching it to the torso and blending the clay in.

For all the bottom detailing, I had to elevate the sculpture on a shoe box so I could see what I was doing. But, there’s my workspace, and there HE is!

After I took these photos, I decided to add a little more detail to his clothing – stitches for the pocket and heart, folds in his tunic. And I gave him a nice brush-down with alcohol to smooth out the clay a bit. I’ll be adding the rest of the details later with Apoxie Sculpt, like his paws and sword, and his tiny, tiny bolo tie (that should be interesting). And then – painting!

But for now, our hero is in the oven, AS I TYPE THIS. He is slowly baking and turning into a (hopefully) sturdy little statue with (hopefully) not too many cracks. I’m particularly worried about all those little chunks of hair on his head, I left them there as a test. OH THE DRAMA! I can hardly stand it.

Oh wow, you’re amazing! I love this little guy! Also, I love the idea that a Battle Raccoon exists in the world. I’m currently reading a Mouse Guard graphic novel and love the concept of animals in battle gear and fighting their little hearts out. This is so charming.

Maryanna, I have followed your blog for a while and LOVE it. But this particular post that shows the creative process may be one of my favorites. It grabbed my attention and kept it. Fascinating. Thank you for showing us the behind-the-scenes, your work is amazing, I hope you keep sculpting! :)

That looks amazing! I’ve only encountered ceramics personally once at PCC in Pasadena. I took a ceramics class there and saw a lot of great work. but the detail in your sculpture is awesome! good work!

I had to follow your blog… can’t wait to see how your little guy will look in the end, after the paint and everything. I’m excited for you. He looks great already! Now I’m off to snoop around on your site.

Great sculpting! When I went to college to study Fine Art I chose a school for their sculpture facility.
My major was sculpture. But guess what the pre-requisite was? Drawing I and Drawing II ! We were not allowed to take a sculpting class until we completed drawing classes. Now, do you see why you are such an excellent sculptor? You are an excellent renderer of your subject that you know intimately in a visual and creative way. Keep it up you are on the right track!

Thank you! I think you are exactly correct! It wasn’t the actual sculpting I was worried about – I know this fellow so well in my head that it was a real adventure making him 3-D. But I had to familiarize myself with the process and materials, since they are so completely different from drawing. Super fun.

Fantastic :) he looks lovely.
A similar impetus happened to us this week. I mostly work with cloth or draw my characters and ideas , but after about 4 years of saying that we will start to work in clay – We’ve gone ahead and bought a kiln! So me and my husband ( who used to work as a potter for 24years) can now work together in new ideas in clay and make new exciting things. Very exciting :)
Good luck with your venture- looks like you’re heading in the right direction.

If you use a conventional oven for baking clay–the tip that helped my husband most when he was making maquettes was to let them cook to the desired “firmness” level..then turn off the oven and leave them in there. Don’t open the door to peek. Don’t take it out until it has completely cooled. For whatever reason, this seriously reduces the amount of cracking in statuettes. Including small ones!

Yes, I followed a very slow bake method – gradually increase the temp, then cool just as slowly. He ended up with just two very tiny hairline cracks in the really meaty areas, but otherwise okay! I probably didn’t cool down slow enough. I think shocking the clay with temp changes causes the cracking. Thanks for the tip! :)

I cannot believe I have only just stumbled on your amazing blog! Your characters are amazing and I will be your newest most avid follower! You’ve inspired me to attempt a sculpture! Thank you for the step by step pictures =)